County council gets behind Wasaga in quest for new high school

Simcoe County council has backed Wasaga Beach's mayor in his plea for the construction of a new high school in the bayside town.

In a recorded vote of 25-5, county council voted in favour of the request by Wasaga Beach Mayor Brian Smith during this week's joint committee of the whole and council meetings.

“We brought this forward back in 2017 and I am happy to say this house unanimously supported the children of the town of Wasaga Beach towards getting a high school in our community," Smith said. "We are just asking that it be reaffirmed by this house this time around so that when we are speaking with the ministry and with the two different (school) boards that there is support behind the town and our children."

Wasaga Beach is one of the fastest-growing communities in the province, said Smith, not to mention the whole country. 

“Our population has more than doubled over the last 15 years … (and) we anticipate that doubling almost again by 2051,” he said.

There are currently more than 800 students bused out of the community daily to other schools within the county, said Smith, all of which he pointed out are over capacity.

“We just received funding last Friday from the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) and our friends at the province that they have funded another elementary school that was approved in 2017," he said. "Until that school is built, the town of Wasaga Beach is currently busing kindergarten children to other communities … to a tune of about three hours a day on a bus.”

High school students in the community have been filling other schools in the region for many years, Smith added.

“In 2017, not only did we receive unanimous support from this house, but we received the support of the Ministry of Education in an unprecedented letter written to the SCDSB and the Town of Wasaga Beach indicating the (public school board) should be sitting down with our community and looking to build a high school,” Smith said.

Collingwood Mayor Yvonne Hamlin said that while it’s hard to speak against a new school, she was concerned other schools, including Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI), would lose a lot of students if a high school was built in Wasaga Beach. 

"I am wondering if anyone has done any analysis on what the effect will be on programming?” she asked.

Other secondary schools the public board has in the area around Wasaga Beach include Stayner Collegiate Institute and Elmvale District High School. 

Tanya Snell, who serves as deputy mayor for Wasaga Beach and is a former public school board trustee, told county council that extensive studies were done at CCI, which is currently the oldest school in the system. 

“It has been deemed as cost-prohibitive to repair and the strategy is both Wasaga Beach and CCI would be submitted in and around the same time because they both have to be built around the same time," she said. 

Snell noted approximately 600 to 700 students would attend a new high school in Wasaga Beach should it be built.

“They’re coming into Grade 9 at their most emotionally vulnerable time," she said. "They are coming at a time when they have all their peers and heading into the lowest spot in the pecking order of high school.

"What happens to our students that is unique (compared) to any other community is they get divided into four different schools as options," Snell added. "Your small social group then scatters. Our students are put in a vulnerable position and I believe this is well overdue … The SCDSB has a plan and a strategy for not compromising programming."

Hamlin said she was sympathetic to the situation, but she would not be able to support the request. 

“I don’t feel, until I see it, that the school board has fully thought out how a Collingwood high school of half the size would be able to offer the same program," Hamlin said. "I feel our priorities in this house should be to make sure that our children have the best chance of success in going on to their post-secondary education.

"I’d like to have a lot of confidence that all of the programs needed would be offered, regardless of whether the children have their same friends at their same school,” she added. 

Smith disagreed, however. He said attending school with friends is an important part of the overall experience. 

“The children of Wasaga Beach have been split up for many years and used to back-fill schools in other communities," Smith said. "That’s no one's fault, but our children deserve what every other child in this province has, and that’s an opportunity to go to a high school, and an elementary school, in their own community, to be able to be on sports teams, and do extracurricular activities."

The Wasaga Beach mayor said his town is not asking for anything that any other community with members around the table hasn’t had at one point, or has today. 

"Our children are our future," Smith said. "Their mental stability and the stability they have within our community … is very important."

Essa Township Mayor Sandie Macdonald pointed out her municipality was in a similar situation about 16 years ago when it was looking for a high school to be built.

“A school becomes a hub, but also allows all of the students to have a fair playing ground," she said. "Not everyone has that luxury of having a parent to drive them to and from somewhere. We sat in the same seat as Wasaga Beach. I do not believe any school will suffer and I think it’s a great thing for those students."

Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School, located in Angus, opened in September 2011.